Greetings Dear Friends,
I've been doing my homework:
This past July was spent in Tours at a French intensive program, which put one more notch up the pole of getting fluent. For me, mastering French is a far longer road than expected, especially since my franco-anglophone friends speak to me mostly in English, a little French for good measure – Franglais – as it’s so often called. To celebrate the completion of such an academic month, a weekend was arranged with friends at their ancient house in ‘Chahaignes,' a little village in the Loire which abuts the obscure wine region of Jasnieres. Four adult daughters of an American mother and French father, their hearts properly divided between both cultures (the best of both), I found reposing under a large oak tree on rusty iron chairs in the garden, having their aperitif, a little pastis and water on ice. An orchard on one side, and a lawn on the other – charmingly disorganized, the house rests full of ancient knickknacks – nothing has moved for 200 years; my heart leapt for these moments of Rococo that haven’t entirely left contemporary life.
Domaine de Bellieviere (Eric Nicolas) Jasnieres ‘Les Rosiers’ 2006
Far from American consciousness, Jasnieres has been a Touraine appellation since 1937– a handful of producers remain to cultivate delicate chenin blanc – aromas redolent of quince, pears, apples, acacia, while having a soft, silky texture and often a medium-dry finish, much like Savennieres. I first tasted the wines of Eric Nicolas years ago when they were almost inaccessible and only the geekiest if wine connoisseurs knew about them – and again, recently, at a little barbeque with some Vouvray/Montlouis producers, who blind-tasted the group on these wines, and you could feel the excitement when Bertrand Jousset (who makes fabulous Montlouis) guessed correctly the producer, grape variety and vintage. Needless to say, this winery is held in high esteem among its contemporaries and critics, especially that of my favorite wine-snob, Michel Bettane, who says that the 7 grams of residual sugar in this wine is well supported by its minerality – and gives a very respectful 16 out of 20.
Et donc, the eldest daughter of this bohemian cottage and I set foot over the rolling hills to taste at this Domain de Belliviere in the neighboring town of Lhomme. Greeted by a vast expanse of vineyards on silex and flint soils, and a lovely couple kindly invited us into their cuverie for a casual mid-summer degustation of their 06 vintage.
I chose ‘Les Rosiers,’ which comes from an average of 25 year old vines, because of its clean cut, thanks to a pronounced acidity which greets considerable honeysuckle, apple, and earthy flavors, and a rich golden color. Depth that puts this wine on what I would deem to be the most serious side of Loire whites; the 06 the vintage produced wines with a slightly richer constitution. The aforementioned residual sugar does not create sweetness nor sappiness. Eric, the winemaker is one of those scientific geniuses and a significant character on the avant-garde wine scene – those who are painstakingly taking appellations to heights uncharted, with low yields, manual plowing and
proper ripening and in this instance, ageing in a quarter percentage of new-oak barrels. And, of course, everything here is biodynamic. Not exactly a profit-machine.
As for the price – I am offering for less than what one is charged if you were to drive yourself up to the domaine. Seemingly the best price in the US as well.
$29.98 per bottle. Very limited -
So, voila – please let me know by simply responding to this email if you are interested – it is a painless ordering process.
No sales tax for out of state shipments. We ship almost everywhere.
Otherwise New York tax applies. Delivery and shipping not included.
I beseech you to refer some friends –
And speaking of, please check out this gourmet auction that goes to a
lovely cause: http://www.newamsterdammarket.org/auction.htm
Slainte and Happy Friday,
Mary Taylor
ThoreauWineSociety.com
Dear Friends,
The sun is shining over Burgundy for the first time in weeks - the cold damp fog is lifting, bringing my spirits along with it. Who knows what the 2009 vintage will bring, but it has been a cold winter, allowing the vines to rest dormant. With these offerings, most of the time, I have good access to recent vintages, most suitable for your cellars, wine-fridges, bedroom closets, wherever you might keep your wine; though sometimes it's fun to immediately drink the wine we buy – and thus I thought I’d offer something deliciously ‘pret a boire,’ something perfectly suited for the transition from winter to early spring, and from a 'Grand Millesime' to boot.
Michel Gaunoux Beaune 1999
I feel like an expert on the wines of Michel Gaunoux, since circumstances have led me there to taste twice in the last few weeks, and they so kindly opened a substantial range of older vintages. This lovely domain, in the center of Pommard, is headed by Madame Gaunoux and her two adult children, Alexandre and Anne, with a family history that dates to 1742 (not to be confused by the Jean-Michel Gaunoux estate in nearby Meursault). A classically Burgundian apprehension leads me to wonder if this kind though timid family purposefully shy away from the critics, as I see little mention of them from Bettane nor Meadows nor Tanzer and they are rarely seen on the retail market.
However there remains a good following, and having just tasted several vintages, I deeply appreciate their style, which is that of purity and minimal intervention; these are very classic, old-style wines, delicate, while aromatically elegant and compelling.
The all-pinot noir Gaunoux range stretches from Bourgogne through Pommard, Beaune and Corton Renardes. This is not an overly ambitious operation, though the family has good holdings in these respective appellations, and, for example, the Gaunoux's declassified their entire 2004 vintage - it just simply isn't for sale because they weren't satisfied with the vintage. I think that shows some integrity.
Choosing the Beaune, I felt that it offered the best value for money in the range, although certainly the Pommard 1er Cru was delightful as well. However, these are not 'cheap' wines and I see that their village-level Pommard sells for about $100 at Astor wines, and while I tasted the others with delight, it was their older vintage Beaunes that were more structured, and still feminine.
This 99 Beaune, although classified as a village wine comes from 4 separate parcels, 2 being premier cru. The tannins are especially ripe and soft, the aromatic profile is enveloping and mysteriously charming, giving some hints of exotic fruit mixed with coffee bean, though that is entirely subjective. The wine is by no means on its way down, indeed it possesses a great deal of life, and proves to be drinking splendidly now; very pure and mineral; a lovely vigor and freshness complement evolved tertiary aromas. No new oak to be detected whatsoever. Especially served in proper glasses, I assert that this wine would entirely delight your dinner guests – the ones who prefer sophisticated, though open and sexy pinot noir.
Domaine Michel Gaunoux Beaune 1999
$53.50 per bottle
no minimum
So, voila - please let me know by simply responding to this email if you
are interested.
No sales tax for out of state shipments. Otherwise New York tax applies.
Delivery and shipping not included.
Slainte,
Mary Taylor
ThoreauWineSociety.com
Dear Friends,
I fell off the face of the earth for awhile – but have decided that life takes work, so I’m back to writing the wine newsletter. Actually I’ve quite missed reaching out, and so I hope you will welcome these well-researched missives.
Have
spent the last several weeks in Australia, seeing my best friend get
married and trekking across Tasmania – flopped around in wine country
and in fun Aussi spots including young, robust Melbourne – just before
the fires broke out (no, I didn’t start any) but I want to express my
solidarity with those people who are unduly suffering – and will bring
you some great wines from Australia in notes to come. But today I’m
back in Beaune and happily back to drinking Burgundy.
Olivier Merlin Macon La Roche Vineuse 2006 :
Olivier Merlin, a humble and focused Maconnais winemaker, brings to the world wines I have loved since I started this wine trail a decade ago. I’ve talked about the great work going on in the Macon from others such as the Bret Brothers, and Merlin is right within that realm of being one of the few vignerons who aim to bring the wines of Pouilly-Fuisse and surroundings into the connoisseur level. And happily it has been working; Allen Meadows has given Merlin wines scores upwards of 92 points. For quality to price ratio, if your budget doesn’t call for Chassagne-Montrachet this month, here is your man. I find that the majority of Chardonnays at this price tend to have a lot of make up – it is easy to find a fair bit of manufactured ripe, bursty sweetness and heavyness. By contrast, this Chardonnay is completely mineral driven – almost a golden flecked color, with depth, but not manipulatively dense, earthy and vigorous – a charming hint of oak (15% is used); a most pure example of a ready to drink white Burgundy.
Olivier
and his wife Corinne took over this old domain just over 20 years ago.
They have since had the advantage of understanding the individual
terroirs and exactly how to express each plot by way of gentle, natural
winemaking. Everything is hand done, from picking and trimming to
careful lees management. No herbicides or fertilizers are used. There
is a light racking and gentle filtration, though never any fining. True
attention to these small individual vineyards is considered the true
aim here. 2006 was a complicated year in it's general heaviness, but this appellation shows
freshness and focus and should be delightful to drink immediately.
So, voila – please let me know by simply responding to this email if you are interested.
$18.50 per bottle – 3 bottle minimum.
No sales tax for out of state shipments. Otherwise New York tax applies. Delivery and shipping not included.
Just a post note: It takes a lot of verve to build a list and get the word out when starting a business such as this – so if you have received this email, and you are not interested, please simply unsubscribe below. Or better yet, please refer some friends and build your wine collection with gorgeous wines such as this.
Slainte,
Mary Taylor
ThoreauWineSociety.com
